Leadership insights

A fundamental principle that we teach about effective boards is this: It’s the board that makes decisions, not individual board members. Where do you draw the line between the free flow of ideas and board discipline?
Real change requires that people make a personal choice and assume responsibility for doing things differently than they’ve done before.
In a world where you need to lead through others, more communication is needed, not less. The key is in more crisply managed meetings.
An organization’s core values are different from our personal core values. You have to imagine the organization speaking for itself and answering the question: What is absolutely essential for this organization’s success?
Communication between people can be harmonious, even downright civil, even though emotions are high and differing viewpoints struggle to prevail.
Some people are inherently reluctant to change. Others embrace it. To accelerate the pace of change, you may need to change “the trust equation.”
Bureaucratic creep starts when a manager feels he has to exert control over how something gets done. Perhaps he’s been told to get it right “or it’s your job.” So he installs a new checkpoint to monitor a particular decision...
Research shows that the people who consider themselves the most competent are actually the least competent. (Score one for the importance of staying humble!)
Effective leaders know that building trust is the key to their effectiveness. By building trust, leaders enhance productivity, motivation and engagement, and at the same time reduce stress and turnover.
Let’s talk for a moment about “skip management.” That’s the practice of skipping a level of management to talk to someone the next level up or down. Skip management can erode trust in a hurry.